Chapter 20 ( Doc )
When I wake the sun is well up in the sky. Checking my watch I see it is already after 9 o'clock. Hopefully McIntyre will be here soon and we can get that contraption off of Matt's wrist.
I decide to eat breakfast at the hotel. We should be leaving today on the evening train, but that isn't likely to happen. Someone will have to go to the train station and change our tickets. I am hoping that Matt will be able to travel in a few days.
I arrive at the clinic to find everyone else already there. The seminar is over and most of the participants have left the city. Harrington is talking with Kevin and Edgar in one corner of the room, trying to give Kitty and Matt as much space as possible.
I decide to get a few instruments ready that we might need once that device is removed.
I go over to the bed where Matt and Kitty are talking softly.
She is trying to get him to eat a little breakfast.
"How you feeling Matt? Shouldn't be long before McIntyre is here."
He raises his hand to the back of his head. "Who scalped me?" he asks.
"You'd better talk with Dr. Harrington about that."
Hearing his name mentioned, Harrington comes over to the bed and inspects his work.
Kevin tells me what the Sheriff had said, and also that someone needed to go to his office later to pick up Matt's gun belt.
"Kitty would probably be able to identify that better than anyone." I tell him. "Maybe you can take her over there later."
After a while, a trail weary Marshal appears at the door. He is holding an envelope in one hand.
"I think this is what you are waiting on." He hands it to me.
The man has a two-inch cut over his left eye, which is bruised and swollen. There is some dried blood on his face.
I take the envelope and find a long, thin rusty looking key inside. Kevin and I head for our patient.
Edgar looks at the Marshal's eye. "That needs a couple of stitches, he says, sit in that chair and I'll fix it for you."
"I have a horse outside that I need to go take care of," he argues, "we made it back from Boulder in just over two hours. He needs some care too."
"It won't take me a minute."
While Edgar sutures the cut over McIntyre's eye, Kevin and I set about removing that ugly device from Matt's wrist.
I place a couple of clean towels on the edge of the bed and get Kevin to raise the swollen arm so I can slide them underneath. Any movement is painful – I can see it in his face.
"Matt, try to hold still, we don't need to break this key in the lock." I am not sure if he hears. Kevin takes a hold of his arm and I position his wrist so I can get clear access to the lock. It is difficult because of all the swelling. I hope we haven't waited too long.
I manage to insert the key and try to turn it but at first get very little movement. Not wanting to break the key off in the lock, I release the pressure and try again. Now it is turning, a little more manipulation and the device opens. Matt groans as I try to remove it. The raw and bleeding tissue is stuck to the rusty metal. I look to Harrington.
"Get me some water, lets try soaking it off."
Kitty is talking to him, trying to keep him still.
"Hang in there for a few minutes Matt," I tell him
"Do you want me to give him something for pain Galen?" Kevin asks me.
"In a minute. Matt, see if you can move your fingers."
It hurts him but he tries. There is a little movement, but the hand is so swollen that I am not surprised there isn't more.
"Go ahead Kevin, then I'll clean this up and dress it."
It takes me a while to remove all the flakes of rusty metal and clean the damaged tissue but once I have finished it doesn't look quite so bad.
Matt continues to sleep for a while. Kevin and Kitty leave to go down to the Sheriff's office to retrieve Matt's gun belt.
The Sheriff is seated at his desk. Seeing Kitty he scrambles to his feet. Kevin does the introductions.
"Uh Ma'am," he says indicating a box on the floor, "there are several things in there that they found. I also have a couple of guns here in my desk."
Kitty goes through the contents of the box, staring at each gun belt until she comes across one with a familiar worn look. It almost brings tears to her eyes as she feels the familiar buckle.
"This is his," she says. The Sheriff pulls two guns from the drawer. "How about these?" She eyes the one with the dark handle. "That one is Matt's," she says pointing.
"Oh one other thing," the Sheriff reaches on top of a filing cabinet and pulls down a Stetson hat.
"It has blood stains on the back, so Jerry thought it was probably Marshal Dillon's," he tells her.
She just nods.
Kevin can see she is close to tears at this point. He is not too familiar with guns. The Sheriff checks the pistol and removes the remaining bullets.
"Its safe now." he says
Kevin gathers up the Marshals belongings. "Come on Kitty, we need to take these back to the hotel, and you need a drink."
(Doc)
Leaving Edgar to keep an eye on our Marshal, I head down to the train depot and Harrington comes with me.
"How did your seminar work out?" I ask him
"Better than I could have hoped. I have several of the younger men planning to move here and set up a practice out of the clinic. The idea seems to appeal to them. There is one surgeon from Chicago who really liked Denver and I think he will be coming here soon. I am hoping to attract enough specialists to put this place on the map."
"You did a great job organizing all this. Just wish I had been around for a few more of the lectures."
"Tell me about that friend of yours, that Dr. O'Malley, I imagine he is pretty much fixed in Baltimore."
"I think so. His work is more geared towards research, he really needs a university setting for funding."
"I see. Brilliant man though."
"Indeed, a good physician too."
I put all of our tickets on hold, explaining to the clerk that we will be leaving within a week, but not sure of the exact day. He says that is not a problem, just to let him know the day before. I am not sure what Kevin and Edgar plan to do.
Next morning we hear that Jerry Dean and the deputy Marshal, brought Trammel and Hetch safely back to Denver. They are going to have to wait there for trial. That man Tony would be brought here also. Matt obviously wouldn't be needed because he remembered nothing of being at the mine.
I did give that barbaric device we finally removed from Matt's wrist to Marshal McIntyre so he could use it as evidence.
Kitty and I head to the clinic. I get Kitty to gather a change of clothes for Matt.
She is carrying his hat, "With that fancy haircut, he's going to need it," she says.
Kevin and Edgar had stayed with him over night. I am hoping we can get him up and back to the hotel by this evening. I know he would be more comfortable there.
When we arrive both my young friends are eating breakfast. Matt is still asleep but I see they have some food for him also.
Kitty goes to look at Matt.
"He should wake up in a minute," Kevin tells her, "maybe you can get him to eat something. If it's all right with you two, I think Edgar and I will leave now and catch up with some sleep ourselves."
After they had gone I look over the records Kevin kept during the night. Better than I could have hoped, only a slight fever. Now would be a good time to change that dressing – before he wakes up.
Removing the old bandage I am pleased with what I see. The swelling is down, and although there is still some infection it is much better than yesterday.
"Looks good," I tell Kitty.
I have it all cleaned and bandaged before he wakes up.
Eventually Matt responds to Kitty's coaxing and manages to eat some of the breakfast that the others brought.
Then I tell him, that its time to try getting up off of that bed. Slowly I help him into a sitting position.
"How's your head?"
"Hurts a little – not too bad."
"Swing your legs around and sit there a minute."
He seems to be doing all right. I stand in front of him.
"Now take it slowly, see if you can stand."
He gets to his feet and sways a little trying to find his balance.
"Ouch," he says raising his hand to the back of his head."
I help him back down. "We'll try again later." I check his pulse, it is a little fast, but it will do.
He sits with his head in his hands for a few minutes. Kitty comes over and puts her arm around his shoulders.
"It's going to work, just take your time."
In fact it takes several attempts before we get the big lawman on his feet. Even then he is not that steady.
"Matt this may take a while, I was hoping we could get you back to the hotel tonight."
"I can do it with a little help."
We get him back on the bed and Kitty helps him to get the clean clothes on.
"Where's my badge?" he asks
"Much as I hate this thing I rescued it from your torn shirt that Dr. Harrington was about to throw away." She digs in her purse and pulls out the shiny metal object. "I don't think you need it right now though, I'll keep it safe for you."
It is later that afternoon before Kevin shows up again. He tells us that Edgar is going for one final evening at the casino. He has done well thus far, and is already planning some purchases for his house and his next new piece of surgical equipment.
With Kevin's help we manage to get Matt back to the hotel.
The Marshal sleeps for many hours after the short trip, but gradually in the days that follow he regains some strength until eventually he can walk around the room without help. He is still getting headaches from time to time, on the other hand his wrist is healing nicely and I only have to change the dressing once a day.
Kevin stays around saying he will travel as far as Dodge with us, just in case there is a problem. Edgar had to leave to return to Wichita. The doctor who was looking after things for him had to return home, and our young friend hated to leave the town without a physician.
"You know what?" I say to the others as we board the train for Dodge four days later. They look at me questioningly. "Next time I go to a medical seminar, I am not telling anyone about it. I am just going to sneak off in the night – just in case someone tries to come with me."
It is several weeks before Matt comes to tell me that he had just received a telegram from Sheriff Bentley in Denver. Thanks to testimony and evidence from Jerry Dean and Marshal McIntyre, all three of the men were convicted of kidnapping and the man called Tony was, in addition. convicted of attempting to murder a US Marshal.
I received a letter from Dr. Harrington. He had four new physicians opening offices in his clinic and that surgeon from Chicago was planning to be there within the month. His venture seemed to be starting out well.
As to my Marshal friend, his usual powers of recuperation kicked in. His wrist healed a lot faster than I could have hoped.
I know he continued to have headaches from time to time, but the only time he came to the office was for me to remove Dr. Harrington's sutures.
The people of Dodge knew nothing of our time in Denver, and life in the dusty cow town continued on as usual.
The End